LONDON (ShareCast) - Societe Generale has cut its recommendation for engine maker Rolls-Royce from 'hold' to 'sell', saying that earnings forecasts are at risk.

Ahead of the company's investor briefing in London on Thursday, the bank said: "We expect some concerns over the outlook for 2014 earnings given management guidance of a strong second-half bias to the results and uncertainty over the group’s interest in Wärtsilä."

Exane BNP Paribas has upped its target price for consumer products group Reckitt Benckiser but has kept a cautious stance, saying that the stock's valuation is too high.

"The Reckitt story is not a bad one, but with the shares trading at 20 times [core estimated earnings for 2015] for a 7% underlying mid-term earnings grower, we believe it is more than priced.

Numis Securities has maintained a 'buy' rating for Mitchells & Butlers (M&B) and upgraded its forecasts after the pub group's £266m acquisition of the Orchid Group estate.

The broker said "the deal is a good one for M&B", buying 173 of Orchid's 220 pubs, adding food-led brands including The Great British Carvery, Thai Dragons and Oriental Restaurants and All Inns. Numis said that the estimated £6m of synergies from the deal could be a "conservative" target.

Oriel Securities repeated its 'reduce' rating for Majestic Wine after the company's annual results on Monday.

"Given the March profit warning we knew FY14 would look grim and management’s rhetoric for FY15 remains highly cautious," the broker said. It added that momentum at the wine retailer is negative yet the stock's valuation is still at a premium to the sector.

BC

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